


the art of war

by echokomfloukru



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, F/M, M/M, Multi, Organized Crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 04:30:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11410260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echokomfloukru/pseuds/echokomfloukru
Summary: In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.





	the art of war

Raphael sits stiffly in his chair as he reads the letter out loud, sharing a look with his most trusted advisors.

“Thoughts?”

Maia shrugs, even though the answer is written all over her face, “It can't help to try.”

Isabelle nods in agreeance, “Now, that Morgenstern has an heir, we need to strike the fast. The enemy of my enemy…. ”

“….is my friend,” Raphael finishes for her, placing the letter aside. He stands up, pulling at the lapels of his jacket, “Very well. Contact the queen and let her know I accept the invitation.”  
 **—**  
She takes a seat at a table in the back of the cafe, expression hidden behind a nice pair of shades.

She smiles at waiter, ordering one of those unicorn drinks she's heard so much about.

She's playing a game on her phone when the chair across slides back as someone occupies it, causing her to look up [and lose the game.]

“Took you long enough.”

Meliorn shrugs, fingers tapping against the smooth table separating them.

_thump, thump, thump, thump_

It irritates her and he knows it.

“Better late than never.”

“So, what was Mr. Santiago's response? Let me guess, he appreciates the invitation, but politely declines?”

“Quite the opposite, actually. He accepted it.”

She's shocked to say the least, “Good. Looks like I have some shopping to do.”

She takes her drink and leaves with a three finger wave.  
 **—**  
Maia and Izzy circle each other, teasing each other.

Izzy moved quick, but Maia reacted fast enough to block her hit, the sound of the sticks hitting each other echoing through the room.

“You need to watch your footwork.”

Maia shook her head. She liked fighting with her fist more, this was Isabelle's thing.

“Have you studied The Art of War?”

Maia eyed her suspiciously as they continued to provoke each other, “Wasn't a part of the summer reading list, sorry.”

She keeps her focus on Izzy's movements, trying to anticipate an attack.

“You should learn it. Sun Tzu gives excellent advice.”

“Really?,” She tilts her head to the side, finding an opening, “Like what?”

Izzy smiles approvingly, deciding that the playground games were over.

“Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood.”

She moves fast and hard against Maia, going for a leg then her side. Maia blocked the first hit, but missed the second, letting out a sharp hiss.

“Attack like Fire.”

Izzy spun she was behind her, smacking the stick against Maia’s ass.

“But my favorite…”

Maia grunted, managing to land a hit. She barely noticed Izzy leaning down and swiping the stick under feet until she was on back, looking up at her girlfriend.

“To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.”

Izzy held out her hand to help her girlfriend up. Maia let out a breathless laugh, before taking the stick and swiping it between Izzy's legs so she. was sprawled out on her back too.

“I'm a quick study.”  
 **—**  
Sebastian steps into his room slowly, looking around.

“I know you're here.”

He takes a few more steps, peeking into his bathroom.

“Come out.”

_“What's the magic word?”_

He turns to the voice, facing his closet, “Abracadabra.”

She laughs sharp and quick like a snake getting ready to attack, dark waves shaking as she makes her towards his bed.

“Patience is a value, darling.”

“So, what did Dracula say?”

He sits at the edge of the bed, backing facing her as slips off his shoes.

“He accepted.”

His shock quickly morphs into a sly grin, “Everything is falling into place. So, when will you be meeting with him?”

He pulls his shirt over his head, crawling on the bed towards her. 

“I won't. I hate these diplomat meetings, you know that. I'll be sending Meliorn in my place.”

Sebastian freezes, a breath away from her neck, “Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you really trust him that much?”

Camille lifts up his face so she can look at him, long nail tracing the right side of his face, “I trust him as much as I trust you.”

“Mhmm.”  
 **—**  
Meliorn follows the two girls into the kitchen where Raphael is cooking.

“I wasn't sure what you'd like so I'd figured…. ”

He trails off as he looks up, just now noticing he wasn't talking to the Queen.

Meliorn smiles plainly, hand connected behind his back, “The Queen was busy and sent me in her place. Is that a inconvenience for you?”

Raphael clears his throat with a shake of his head, “No, not at all. Care to help?”

Meliorn shrugs, slipping off his long overcoat and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. 

Raphael nods at Maia and Isabelle who quickly get the message. Maia's lips curl as they walk away, “How come he never cooks for us?”

“So, what are we making?”

Raphael tenses at his close proximity, turning on the burner, “Have you ever tasted Dragonfly Stir Fry Rice?”

Meliorn steps away at his obvious discomfort, “No, can't say I have.”

Raphael nods, moving to grab the right food and seasonings, “I'll teach you.”  
 **—**  
Meliorn pulls out a Raphael's chair before taking his own.

“Let's talk business. What plans do the Queen have?”

Meliorn doesn't respond for a moment, focusing on the food in front of him, “Is it just pleasantries with us now?”

“What else would it be?”

Raphael picks up his wine glass, taking the smallest sip as he waits for an answer.

Meliorn half smiles, lip quirking up at the end, “Very well, then. Just business. The Queen wants to infiltrate the Institute.”

“That place is practically impenetrable.”

“My, my, where has your sense of optimism gone? I have an architect friend who can give me blueprints.”

“And security? What will do with them?”

Meliorn looks at the door the girls walked through an hour ago, “They seem to be able to hold their own. I will send in some of my best fighters if it eases you.”

The rest of the dinner ends in them scheduling another meeting before finish their meal in silence. Meliorn leaves with a handshake and a ghost of a kiss on his cheek.

If Raphael cracks a tear after Meliorn is gone, well Maia and Izzy pretend not to notice.  
 **—**  
The next meeting is a tense affair.

Raphael got the blueprints from Elias like he said he would after promising to never contact him again.

In Elias's own words, _“I have a family now. I'm done with that life.”_

Raphael had just nodded and told him to tell Raj he said hi. 

This meeting was at a abandoned dojo. Meliorn had set a table up so Raphael could spread the paper over it.

Meliorn was strung together like a broken puppet under the Queen's watchful gaze. His responses were short and clipped, so different from the relaxed tone he oozed at the last meeting. Two others—a guy and a girl—stood on either side of him stoically.

Maia and Isabelle watched from a corner, trading whispers, “I don't trust her.”

“You don't trust anyone, Mi.”

“My gut is telling me she's hiding something and I trust my gut.”

“Okay, Olivia Pope. I'll an extra eye on her."

And Isabelle did just that, eyebrows creasing as she looked at her phone in alarm before heading outside, presumably to speak in private. _Yeah, right._

Isabelle followed her, straining her ears to what was being said on the other side of the door; she could only catch little snippets though.

_“Yes. No. I already told you what the plan was. Bye!”_

Isabelle stood back as the door creaked back open, smirking at the look of surprise on her face, “Enjoy your phone call?”

“Did you?”

Isabelle dropped the smirk, eyes narrowing as glared at the woman, “The party is inside.”

Isabelle took her spot next to Maia again, “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means we need to watch our backs.”  
 **—**  
Raphael and Meliorn stand back, watching the fighting in front of them.

“The Queen must have a busy schedule. Six meetings and she's only been to one of them.”

“Is there something you want to ask, Santiago?”

Raphael looks away. He always hated being addressed by his last name.

“I just want to make sure everything is ready when we begin our attack.”

“Do you not trust me anymore?”

Raphael is silent for as the air hangs heavy in between them, “I don't mix business with pleasure.”

“You're avoiding the question.”

“What do you want me to say, huh? We had a life before this, so what? When Valentine is defeated, we'll go back to being enemies.”

“Hiding from the pain will only cause you more. I d–did love you. Maybe in another world, we could've worked out.”

Raphael allows himself to think about it, a life with him and Meliorn and none of this fighting, “Maybe.”

A loud thump captures their attention as Isabelle pins Kaelie down.

“Impressive,” Meliorn remarks.

Raphael nods, arms crossing over as chest as he smiles fondly, “They learned from the best.”  
 **—**  
Meliorn grabs his knife, slamming the tall blonde against the wall.

“What are you doing here?”

“Meliorn! Release him”

He looks behind in confusion, “What?”

“I said release him.”

Sebastian pushes him away, rubbing at his neck, skin red from where the sharp edge of the knife touched it.

“What is the meaning of this?”

She sighed, stopping and standing a few feet away, “While you were too busy making eyes at your boyfriend, I was ensuring that we came out on top.”

Meliorn took a step back, eyes flickering between the two of them, “What about Kaelie? And Avan? You sent ~~troops~~ our people to their death.”

“It's called collateral damage, Meliorn. Their sacrifices will not go down in vain.”

“Can I kill him now?”

The Queen gave Meliorn a sad look of regret, “Last chance. Which side are you on?”

“It is not a matter of sides, it is a matter of what is right. I promise you only one of us will be coming out of here alive and it won't be either of you.”  
 **—**  
Maia knew something was going to go wrong.

“He was supposed to be here! We were supposed to end this! He needs to pay!”

Rage burns through her as she picks up a chair and throws it against the wall. He killed Gretel and with her last dying breath, she was going to get her revenge.

Izzy thinks before a sound starts playing from a radio on the desk.

_“Hello, ladies. I'm sure it's a surprise that I'm not here. It seems we'll have to have a rain check on this impromptu date.”_

Isabelle shakes her head, looking to where Maia was pacing around the room, shaking from anger.  
Something wasn't right.

_“Out of the graciousness of my heart, I decided to leave you a gift. I guess you could say it's the bomb diggity.”_

The recording cuts off as mid laugh and Maia reached for Izzy.

“We have to go! Now!”

Izzy nodded, looking at the wide panel windows.

“We have to jump!”

Maia nodded, taking her hand, “I love you!”

They ran towards the window and hoped that the fall wasn't too hard.  
 **—**  
Raphael sat outside the building, in a van parked back some, waiting for Maia or Isabelle to give him the signal.

He wasn't expecting Meliorn to show up. He was supposed to be with the queen, making sure nothing happened to her.

“Raphael! We must go.”

Raphael took note of his appearance: messy hair, dried blood under his nose, and a scared look in his eyes.

“What happened?”

Meliorn didn't answer, pulling the door open and pulling Raphael out by the arm.

It was too late. Raphael stopped as the ground shook and the building caught fire.

Meliorn stopped too, a tear running down his cheek for his fallen friends.

“No….”

Meliorn grabbed him once more, this time with less force and tried to coax him away with sensitive words.

“There is nothing we can do now, trust me. Come on.”

Raphael allows himself to be pulled away, mind going in between Maia and Isabelle. All of this for nothing.  
 **—**  
Isabelle isn't sure how they survived, but she's sure there's an angel looking out for them.

Maia has an arm slung around her as they limped to a gas station.

Isabelle ignored the strange looks, heading straight for the cashier.

“I need to use your phone.”

The lady took one look at them and shoved a phone towards them and let them take a couple of snacks which Maia took complete advantage of.

Isabelle sighed as the call was answered, tears coming to her eyes, “Alec, I need your help.”  
 **—**  
Raphael sits down on the dusty bed as Meliorn closes the blinds and locks the door.

“They're gone.”

Meliorn wants to comfort him, give him some sort of hope but knows it will be futile.

“She was working with Sebastian,” he says, clenching his fist, “she betrayed us all.”

“Did you kill them?”

“Sebastian is long gone. Camille fled before I could get the chance.”

“Next time, I won't.”

Raphael turns on his side and tries to sleep.  
 **—**  
It's been two months since the accident. Meliorn and Raphael have kept on the move, trying to plan another attack while licking their wounds. Things are easier between them, like it was before they got into this mess.

Meliorn knows that this is it for him. He only hopes that Raphael feels the same way.

The day before the plan goes into action, Meliorn take him out. A nice restaurant that actually cooks their meat all the way through.

“Do you remember when we talked about how different life would be for us? Better?”

Meliorn takes a breath, pulling the ring from his pocket.

Raphael lets out a low gasp, “You kept it?”

Meliorn nods, thinking back to that night all that time ago, “I wanted to say yes, that night. But then you became the head of the Brooklyn Clan and I got involved with Camille. So, now I'm asking you. After tomorrow, do you want to begin _our_ life together?”

“Ask me tomorrow again and I'll give you my answer.”

Meliorn thinks it better than him saying no.  
 **—**  
Maia stands in the dark, blood dripping from the knife in her hand.

There's footsteps followed by a shaky breath, but she doesn't turn around.

When she does, she addresses whoever it was with a steady voice, “It's done. It's over.”

Raphael rushes to hug her. Maia drops the knife to hug him back, tears soaking his shirt.

“I thought you were dead. Is Isabelle....?”

Maia just pulls him closer.  
 **—**  
The wedding is small. Magnus walks Raphael down the aisle and Elias is his best man. Meliorn's cousin Simon is his best friend. Isabelle is the flower girl and Maia almost trips over a petal, bringing the rings.

When they say I do, Raphael knows the waiting was worth it.

Isabelle leans over to whisper in Maia's ear, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

Maia kisses her to shut her up.

**Author's Note:**

> the ending was rushed so my bad. thanks for reading!!


End file.
